Mental as Anything
by halfmyheart
Summary: Sam tried uselessly to drag herself out of the nightmares, but the harder she tried the worse they became. The clock is ticking and it's a race against time to save Sam...Complete!
1. Going Under

Still not mine.

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The water burned her even though it was as cold as ice. She tried desperately to keep her head above water, but the undertow in the small pool was too strong. It pulled her under again. She choked on the salty water. It burned her lungs. She was sure that she was going to drown, but suddenly she felt something grab her arm and yank. She felt something in her shoulder snap and crunch. Again there was a harsh tug until she resurfaced and was pulled out of the burning black abyss that seemed intent on swallowing her. She coughed up mouthfuls of the burning water until she found herself lying on her back staring up at the ceiling of the cave and the gaping hole where she had fallen through.

"Sam? Sam, are you ok?" She looked towards the distant voice only to find that her father was kneeling beside her, holding her in a semi sitting position.

"Yeah. I think so." Her head was starting to clear. He didn't sound so far away and the haziness around the edges was starting to fade.

"Good," said Jack from her left. "Daniel has started a fire. Let's get you warmed up and into something dry."

"Yes, sir."

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Jacob sat watching his daughter sleep fitfully at his side. Something was defiantly not right. Ever since she had fell in that pool of water days before she had been getting sicker and sicker. It was something in the water that has caused it, he was sure about that. He reached out and placed his hand on her forehead and realized with a shock that her fever had spiked. He placed a cool rag on her head and went in search of the medical kit that Jack and Teal'c had left behind when they had returned to the SGC for help with a sample of the water. Jacob and Daniel had been left behind to tend a very sick Sam.

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Sam shook herself awake, her teeth chattered together. Her broken collarbone hurt and the sling wasn't helping. She tried vainly to go back to sleep but no matter what she did she couldn't get warm or comfortable. Her father was constantly asking her if she needed anything, or if she was ok. Of course she wasn't! Why couldn't he see that? She tried to tell him so, but no words would come. Instead her head began to hurt again. She was sure that her skull was going to burst open from the constant pounding. At the moment all she wanted was to curl up in a ball and die, but it didn't look much like her father would leave her alone long enough for that.


	2. Vanished

Not mine, I'm just borrowing them. I wrote this chapter after my Western Civ exam so it's kinda short. Hopefully, now that exams are _almost_ over I can update more regularly. Hopefully.

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A loud crash made Sam sit bolt upright. Pain surged through her arm and she barely managed to stifle the cry of pain that sprung to her lips. Stars danced in front of her eyes as she looked wildly around for the source of the noise, but she couldn't see past her outstretched hand. The dying embers of the fire gave off a slight orange glow that failed to penetrate the darkness surrounding her.

"Dad, Is that you? Daniel?" She whispered to the darkness, but no answer was forthcoming. She blindly searched the floor around her for her pack. Finding it she rummaged around until she found her flashlight. She clicked it on and looked around once again. It wasn't much better than the dying fire. The darkness was so absolute that it seemed to swallow the small beam of light. She could barley make out the silhouette of two abandoned packs lying a few feet from her. Her dad and Daniel were gone. Slowly, painfully she stood up and shined the small light on the floor around her. Two sets of footprints led off towards the back of the cave.

"Dad?" Still no answer. Sam slowly followed the footprints until she came to a fork in the path. One set of footprints led one way and the other set the other way. She stood there wondering if she should go one or turn back. Her rational mind told her that they were bound to come back sometime, but the noise told her that something could be wrong. What if they were in trouble? What if they were hurt? That thought made up her mind for her. She set off down the left tunnel and prayed that she had made the right choice.

It didn't take her long, however, to wish that she had stayed back at camp. Her fever had returned with a vengeance and her collar bone throbbed with ever step that she took. The farther she walked the worse it got. She had forgotten to bring her water bottle with her, stupid thing to do she realized. What was I thinking? Maybe I should go back now before I get hopelessly lost in this labyrinth of tunnels. Suddenly, a light caught her eye and drew her back to reality. It was the beam of a flashlight she realized. As she got closer she saw that it was laying on the ground its owner nowhere to be found. She walked a little further down the tunnel until she was sure that she would collapse from her fever and die there. She leaned up against the wall and sunk to the floor. Her flashlight slipped from her hand and its beam came to rest on a still figure lying on the floor in front of her.

"Dad…" she tried to get up and go to him but she couldn't move. Instead she fell over sideways and everything went dark.


	3. Alone in the Dark

Sam awoke to cold water dripping on her face. It fell in a steady stream from the ceiling of the cave; the sound of it hitting the floor was the only sound she heard. Once her vision cleared she saw that she was in a different part of the cave but she had no recollection of arriving there. She looked around desperate to see her father, she had to know if he was ok, but he wasn't there. In fact she was completely alone. She was lost and freezing cold. She knew that her fever was getting no better; in fact it seemed to be getting slightly worse. She felt like crying, but that wasn't her way. Carter's didn't cry. The only thing that she wanted was to find her father and go home, but she had to find a way back to camp first.

_Slow down,_ she told her racing mind, _one step at a time. _

Slowly she tried to get to her feet but she was too weak. Dehydration had finally set in, so she lay on her back and let the icy cave water drip into her mouth. It wasn't much but it made her feel better.

Eventually she crawled to a dry spot and curled up into a little ball. Lying there she realized that the water wasn't the only sound in the cave after all. Somewhere far off she could hear what sounded like growling and then something gnawing. Every small sound made her jump and her heart would begin to race, wondering what was lurking out there in the darkness. In her fever her imagination began to run wild. She imagined the monsters from her childhood nightmares running loose in the cave just beyond her field of vision. She curled up into a tighter ball and tried to shut out the noises. She tried to think of happier things but she was always drawn back to the present by some new horror that her fevered mind created.

Exhaustion kicked in and her eyelids became heavy. Finally she could hold them open no longer. It was then that her fevered delusions took on a whole new frightening twist. Aside from just hearing them, it was almost as if she could see the phantoms lurking in the darkness, closing in on her. She screamed at herself to stay awake, that these things were real, but her body would not obey. Instead she felt herself falling, and not just into a deep sleep. The air around her seemed to rush by her, and the ground seemed to give way underneath her still form. Somewhere far away in the darkness she thought she heard someone call her name, it sounded like Daniel, but her mind had already shut down and she wasn't sure if the voice was real or just another fevered delusion.

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A/N I promise I won't leave you hanging much longer! Don't ya just hate cliffhangers?


	4. Back to Reality

Exams are finally over! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! You guys are awsome!  
And the usual- still not mine.

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It sounded like his voice was coming from a million miles away. It was faint and it echoed around in her head.

"Sam, Sam you got to wake up! Can you hear me? Sam?"

She felt his hand on her face and tried to swat it away, but had second thoughts after she felt that it was cool against her hot skin.

"Daniel?" She opened her eyes, barley daring to believe that he was real. After the night she had just experienced she wasn't sure if he was there or another delusion. Warily, she touched his face just to make sure.

"What happened? Where's dad?"

He hesitated as if he was unsure of how to break some horrible news to her. It made her fearful, and she tried to sit up and look around.

"No, stay still your not well. Sam, I don't know where Jacob is. We went looking for another source of water, because ours is running out. We had to split up. I haven't seen him since. I tried to find him, followed his tracks and everything. But you were all I found. The tracks ended, just vanished into thin air, but that's impossible."

"I saw him Daniel; he was lying on the floor. I think he was hurt. I…" she stopped and looked at Daniel, pleading with him for this all to be just some horrible joke that her CO had thought up. She looked into the shadows hoping to see her father emerge from them at any moment, but she knew that he wouldn't. In fact she had a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something wasn't right.

"Daniel we have to go look for him."

"I think that we should stay here until Jack comes back from Earth." Seeing that she was about to argue he hastily added, "When I found you, you were talking in your sleep. It wasn't just you imagination running wild Sam. There really is something out there in the darkness."

Sam looked once more towards the back of the cave. Daniel was right. She could feel it, something was out there. She shivered and it had nothing to do with her fever. It felt like someone had just walked over her grave, and that feeling in her stomach intensive.

"Sam lie back down, Jack should be back soon."

She did as she was told but with more that a little trepidation.

"Dad…"


	5. Shadow Watchers

"Here Sam drink this. Janet thinks that it should help."

Sam sat up and eyed the cup in her CO's hand warily.

"What is it? Did she saw what was wrong?"

"She's not 100 percent sure what's wrong, and she won't be until we get you back to the SGC. She thinks that it is some sort of virus. Hopefully it's not contagious. As for this," he motioned at the cup, "I'm sure that it will taste just as bad as it looks."

Sam sat up and took a sip and almost spit it back out. He was right, it was horrible, but she forced herself to drink it anyway. She handed the cup back to Jack as a warm tingling sensation came over her.

"Are there supposed to be side effects?"

"Umm, there might be, or it might interact badly with whatever is wrong with you now…"

Sam glared at him, "might interact? As in cause this to get worse?"

He smiled, "you're the scientist Carter not me."

"Ok gang everyone ready?" He looked over his shoulder at the heavily armed people standing behind him. They all nodded, even Daniel.

"Ok let's go. Carter, stay here and get some rest. We're going to find Jacob."

"But sir…"

"It's an order major."

Sam watched them disappear into the dark tunnels. For a moment she thought about defying the Colonels order and following them, but Janet's foul tasting medicine decided to kick in. She curled up beside the fire that Daniel had built before he left and got lost in the orange flames and the eerie glow they cast on the nearby walls. Every demented hallucination from the night before came back to haunt her, but she pushed them to the back of her mind. She wasn't going to let her imagination get the best of her now that her fever was finally dropping.

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"Is it just me or do these footprints keep vanishing into thin air?"

Teal'c appeared at Daniel's side. "It would indeed appear that these tracks end here."

Jack shook his head, "so what, did their owners just grow wings and fly off or something?"

"I was not aware that humans had the capability to grow wings O'Neill."

"They don't it was just…never mind. Let's double back and see if we missed anything. Daniel you go back and check on Carter."

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Lost in the darkness two women crouched low, trying desperately to become part of the shadows. One of them sat hunched over a notebook. She looked up occasionally then back down to continue scribbling madly on the paper. The second woman fidgeted restlessly as she watched Sam sleeping on the other side of the cave.

"The subject appears to have taken some sort of liquid medication that is amplifying the effects of the virus. Perhaps this will give us more insight into the…"

"Shhhh she'll hear you!"

"She's sleeping Mara; besides she'd just think that we were a hallucination again."

"I told you not to move her last time. You almost got us caught. Now there are more of them. We should abandon our research and return to the colony before they find us."

"But we are so close to completion; we'll be the laughingstock of the university if we leave now. You know that our sponsors would never let us live this failure down. Look she's stirring. Time to implement phase two"

"What? Lucy, no!"

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Sam's head snapped up as a rock flew out of the darkness and landed next to her pillow. She reached out and picked it up. It sure felt real to her, warm and smooth. She spent the next few minuets trying to reason it out. If the rock was real, then someone must have thrown it. Or something… No she told herself, it had to be someone.

"Sam, are you ok?"

"Yeah Daniel." She looked up just in time to see a second rock come hurtling out of the darkness. "Daniel look out!" but she was too late, the rock made contact with the back of his head with a sickening thud.

"Daniel!"

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"You hit him you idiot! We got to get out of here! Come on!"

"Where the heck did he come from?"

Mara turned around intent on dragging her companion home behind her, but instead she found herself face to face with a very angry Colonel O'Neill.

"I hope we aren't interrupting anything ladies."

Mara's face went deathly pale, "Uh oh."

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A/N I'm not sure about this chapter. Please tell me what you think.


	6. Revelations

Mara sat quietly next to Lucy near the fire. Her hands were tied tightly behind her back and her pack had been taken away and searched. All of her precious instruments had been dumped unceremoniously onto the unforgiving stone floor. She could have sworn that she heard one break, but at the moment she had bigger problems than a broken gadget. She looked up and forced herself to meet the colonel's hard gaze.

"We'll start off simple. What were you doing lurking behind those rocks?"

Mara's voice was so small when she answered that she almost couldn't hear it. She wondered if the colonel could.

"We weren't lurking and we didn't mean any harm."

"It looked suspiciously like lurking to me." He jerked his thumb in Sam's general direction, "What did you do to her."

"We didn't do anything to her! I already told you that! It was the water. It's contaminated!"

"Perhaps they are telling the truth O'Neill."

"Perhaps, but then we are still left with them lurking. And those," he pointed to the pile on the floor, "look like stuff for scientific research. So that brings us back to the beginning. What were you doing?"

Mara shifted uncomfortably under the man's intense gaze. She felt the ropes around her wrists tighten with the slight movement. She saw no reason for them to be tied; there was no way they could escape or fight. A guard stood on either side of them, weapons at the ready. Did she and Lucy really look all that threatening to these people? How much danger could two unarmed female scientists possible pose? She glanced briefly at her stuff and then at Lucy before continuing.

"We just saw and opportunity and we took it."

"What sort of opportunity?"

Mara could tell that the man was getting more and more impatient by the minute. She drew in a shuddering breath and decided to take her chances with the truth this time.

"Like I said, the water is contaminated, our people are becoming sick and dying…we had hoped that your people would provide some sort of… medical miracle for ours. If your female was able to develop antibodies to the virus in the water we could use that knowledge to synthesize an antidote to save our people." She looked at the colonel to make sure that he was following. "We sabotaged the roof of the cave; we knew that it would fall when she stepped on it. We've been watching her ever since. Please, we didn't mean any harm!"

"Didn't mean any harm?"

O'Neill crossed to where Mara sat in two long strides. He yanked her up by her elbow and drug her over to where Sam, and now Daniel, lay unconscious by the fire.

"Does this look like no harm to you?"

"Please," said Mara, close to tears, "this wasn't supposed to happen! I'm so sorry! Please…"

"No, you're not sorry! You don't care about her. I've meet people like you before, you're all the same! All you care about is finding a cure for your own people. It doesn't matter who else might get hurt in the process."

He pushed her over until she was inches away from their faces.

"Take a good long look. You caused this. Two innocent people are dying and it's your fault."

"No, please. I'm sorry!"

"You think your sorry now, wait until they die."

"O'Neill, stop."

"Teal'c now is not the time," said Jack with a warning in his voice.

The big Jaffa ignored the warning as he strode forward and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, "O'Neill you mustn't do this. Perhaps she may be of use to us. Major Carter and Daniel Jackson are strong warriors. I feel confident that they will overcome this, but we must keep our heads cool in order to help them."

Maybe it was the fact that Teal'c was right, or maybe it was just the fact that it was Teal'c who said something that made him stop. He released Mara and walked away. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her crumple to the ground in tears. He kept walking, towards the entrance to the cave. He saw Lucy draw away from him in fear as he passed. He wouldn't have hurt her, either of them when it came down to it, but they didn't know that.

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Lucy watched the man named O'Neill stalk past her and flinched in spite of herself. She could tell that he wasn't a bad man, just an upset one. He reminded her of her father. He had a temper too. When he got upset is was best just to stay out of his way. It was a lesson that she had learned hard way and had no interest in learning it again. She turned to watch her sister, Mara, crying on the floor. The man hadn't hurt her, merely scared her. Lucy turned her attention to the big black man that had stopped the colonel and decided that he would be the most reasonable man to talk to. He was imposing but time was running out. She gathered her courage and called out to him, hoping all the while that she was doing the right thing.

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Jacob woke up and rolled over, temporarily blinded by a bright light that hung over his head. The events of the night before rolled through his head in slow motion like ending movie credits. The last image and the bright light cause him to jump to a huge conclusion.

"I've died and gone to heaven." He mumbled to the light overhead and was surprised when he got two answers, one from inside his mind and one from outside his mind.

_Well if this is heaven then I want my money back. It's way too bright here._

"You haven't died and this isn't heaven."

_Oh no,_ thought Jacob, _what did I do to deserve to go this way?_

"You are still in the cave, the colony to be exact. How are you feeling?"

"The colony? Where's Sam? Who are you?"

"Relax," said the voice. "Everything is going to be alright. Just go back to sleep while we finish healing your injuries."

Jacob felt something sharp prick his arm. He tried to sit up but everything went all hazy and he fell backwards onto a soft pillow. It felt so welcoming that he stopped trying to resist. The voice was still talking but he couldn't make out the words and it was getting fainter and fainter until finally he couldn't hear it at all.

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Teal'c finished telling O'Neill what Lucy had said and O'Neill nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes, and I think I know someone else that can help us too. I'll take SG-6 back through the gate to get them."

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Lucy and Mara sat closer to the fire now. Their hands had been untied and they had been given food. At least that was what the man who gave it to them had called it. It was hard and tasteless but very welcome after the long interrogation. She sat as close to Mara as she could as they talked through their plan. Occasionally she glanced up to make sure that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation and she smiled as she watched the colonel leave. Yes, everything was going according to her plan.

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A/N The next chapter should be better than this one and with any luck it will be up within the next day or two. As always please read and review... :-)


	7. Stages

"Daniel? Wakey Wakey."

"Jack, is that you?"

"Yeah, how ya felling?"

"My head…."

"Yeah, you got hit with a pretty big rock. Only a small concussion, don't worry, you'll live."

"Great. How's Sam?"

"Funny you should ask. She's awake again. Apparently this whole virus thing is worse that we first thought. The fever was only the beginning. According to our new "friends" the illness seems to go through stages. She's in stage four right now, sporadic outbursts and uncontrollable crying."

"Oh…what were stages two and three?"

Jack smiled, "childlike and loss of inhibitions."

"Childlike?"

"Yeah, just picture Carter like five or six years old."

"You're kidding right?"

"No Daniel, I don't kid."

Daniel sat up and massaged the back of his head gingerly, "So tell me about these new "friends". I'm not sure I remember them. You know with the rock and all I'm drawing a blank."

"Well they claim that they have no idea what…"

"NO, STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE! I HATE YOU! I REALLY HATE YOU!"

"There she goes again. Hey Doc can you do something about that? Thanks."

"Anyway like I was saying, they don't know too much about this thing other than the stages, which I think they said there were six. It's deadly, which doesn't come as a big surprise. That seems to be the only kind of trouble we attract. We have some help on the way. They should be here anytime. Oh, here comes the Doc, you should be lying down."

"How are you Dr. Jackson?"

"Peachy."

"Hey that's my word, "said Jack. "I think that rock might have hit you harder than we thought if you are talking like me."

Daniel ignored him. "Has SG-7 found Jacob yet?"

"Nope, not a trace, and our friends claim that they never laid eyes on him. I think they are lying but there's no way of knowing for sure. Not without a lie detector test or something."

"Well…" Daniel broke off as the sound of Sam's uncontrolled sobbing reached his ears. "When did you say help was coming? I don't know how long I can take this."

"Right now" said the Doc pointing towards the mouth of the cavern.

Jack looked up as Teal'c entered the cave with their newly arrived help in tow.

"Oh goody," said Jack sarcastically as the Tok'ra approached, "my favorite people in the whole universe."

"God, I'm starving!"

"Uh-oh," said Jack moving his eyes from the Tok'ra to look at Sam. She leaned forwards and snatched a half eaten chocolate bar out of her guard's hand. "Looks like stage five has just kicked in, according to Mara its insatiable hunger. I hope Malek brought some food with him, or Carter is going to be insufferable."

"Well at least she isn't crying or screaming anymore, "said Daniel from his spot on the floor.

"Yeah," said Jack with a grin, "there's that."

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Next chapter will be longer. Please read and review...


	8. No Help

Sam sat on her blanket munching on her stolen chocolate bar. She watched the tok'ra Anise who was speaking to the red headed woman known as Lucy. From time to time Anise would glance over at Sam, frown, then scribble something into the notebook on her lap. Every time her pen went to writing Sam cringed in annoyance. What was she writing and why did she keep frowning? The longer Sam watched her the more she came to dislike the woman. It wasn't until after she had begun to experiment with "possible" cures that Sam realized that she didn't dislike the woman after all…

She **hated** her!

Now hate was a strong word and something that her father had drilled into her when she was a small child that she should not do, but the more Anise poked and prodded and pinched her the more she hated her. Oh sure, she seemed nice enough, but the truth was that she was really a witch from the word go. Sam caught herself thinking that if only she had been born on earth during the right time they would have burned her alive.

Annoyed and no longer enjoy the candy, Sam stuffed the remainder of the chocolate bar into her mouth. As soon as the bar was gone, the craving for more food gnawed at her. She eyed her guard's pockets wondering if he had anymore food stuffed in them. Then another, more appealing thought occurred to her, did Malek?

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"Well?" Jack stared at Malek, his eyes boring into the Tok'ra's. The day had started off bad and kept getting worse. First with SG-7 reporting back without finding so much as a trace of Jacob and then with one of Anise's "experiments" exploding all over the cave. Jack felt as if he was standing on the proverbial last straw, and he had long since grown impatient with the Tok'ra. They had been working on an antidote for three days and still they had nothing. The situation was beginning to remind him of the one on Pangar. Funny how both involved an antidote and….that's when it hit him. Pangar! Tretonin! Maybe they could use that in some way.

"Malek, I'm not a scientist but couldn't you use that tretonin in some way. Maybe synthesize it or something."

Malek stared at the Colonel, shocked that he had thought of something that Malek himself hadn't. He wasn't sure if it would work but given the properties of the virus…and they had made it work for the Jaffa…

"It is worth exploring O'Neill. I will begin right away."

"Excellent," Jack walked towards where Daniel lay on a blanket by the fire. He was smarter than Malek; well at least for a minuet…no, it wasn't such a bad day after all.

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"Let go of me!" Jacob thrashed wildly about on the table. Three more aids rushed to help his captors hold him down. He tried desperately to break free but his captors held tight. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the glint of steel and he knew what was coming.

_Not again _he thought _Selmak help me!_

_I can't Jacob…I'm so sleepy…._

_Selmak? Selmak! _She didn't answer. Jacob grew more desperate, but a sharp prick on the arm told him that fighting was useless.

"Stop, you can't do this!" Jacob yelled at the white clad men holding him down on the table.

"We are trying to help you! Please stop trying to resist!"

_Yeah right! Selmak please! _Still no answer.

As Jacob's body went numb his mind flashed back to a previous conversation that he had overheard between the men surrounding him …

"_He appears to be immune to the virus" said the first man._

"_How is that possible" Asked the second man._

"_I'm not sure, but there appears to be something different about his body chemistry…something that is healing him." _

"_Perhaps it is that thing in his head."_

"_Yes but what is it?"_

_There was a lengthy pause before the second man spoke again._

"_I don't know. There is only one way to find out."_

_He heard a smile in the first man's voice as he spoke._

"_I shall brief the doctor and prepare for immediate surgery."_

Jacob snapped out of the past and tried to concentrate on the present.

_Selmak they are gonna perform amateur brain surgery on us and all you can do is sleep? Selmak?_

Jacob heard the sound of some sort of primitive sinister device coming closer to his head but he could do nothing to fight back. Whatever the men had shot into his system was finally affecting him. All he could do was close his eyes and let the medication take him into a deep dreamless sleep from which he would probably never wake…

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A/N Sorry this took so long! Hopefully it was worth the wait...oh there I go again with those cliffhangers...;)


	9. Just When You Think It's Over

Malek turned sharply around and caught hold of Sam's hand as it slide out of his pocket. In her hand she held his last chocolate bar in a death grip. He thought briefly about snatching it back, after all it was the last one he had, but he thought better of it as he saw the look in her eyes. He let her hand go and watched with perpetual sadness as she devoured his sweet as if there were no tomorrow. He seriously hoped that this stage of the illness was almost over because there was no more food left in the cave.

"How's it going Malek" Jack O'Neill asked interrupting his musing.

Malek picked up the small bottle of tretonin lying on the table in front of him and turned to face the Colonel.

"I believe that I may have a sample of the new drug ready in about an hour or so. I will need a…I believe that in your culture you would call them a "guinea pig". Am I correct?"

"Well that's one way of putting it…I'll see what I can do for ya."

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Sam had never known that Malek was a fan of chocolate. Learn something new everyday she thought. It was her father's fault she knew. He was a bad influence on Malek, Selmak too, or so the council seemed to think. Personally, she thought that he was a good influence on them. Malek was the only Tok'ra who was easy to talk to. He was loyal and a friend for life. Of course he could be arrogant, but who couldn't. Anise on the other hand…Sam decided not to go there again. She sat beside the fire, her stomach growling mercilessly, and imagined Anise on earth during the time of the Salem witch trials…oh yeah she thought; they would have defiantly burned her over.

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"Lucy and Mara said that they know a man who would be willing to be your…umm… "guinea pig". SG-7 is taking them to the "colony" to get him."

Malek didn't even look up, "ok."

Jack left the Tok'ra to his work. Slowly he walked over to where his 2IC sat staring into the dying fire.

"How are you doing Carter?"

"I've been better sir."

Jack smiled at her as he built the fire back up. He reached into this vest pocket and pulled out a pack of half crushed cheese crackers.

"Here ya go Carter. It's not much, but it's something."

He saw the ghost of a smile flutter across her face as she accepted his gift.

"Thanks sir, you're a lifesaver."

"All in a days work Carter."

They passed a few minuets in awkward silence as Sam scarfed down the crackers and the crumbs in the bottom of the pack.

"So tell me, how are your plants?"

"My plants sir?" Asked Sam as she tipped the pack up and allowed the remaining crumbs to fall into her mouth. She was mystified by the sudden change in conversation.

"Yeah…" Jack broke off as a voice from his radio cut across the conversation. "What is it Lieutenant Green?"

"We made it to the colony, sir. You will never believe what we…"

Silence.

"Green? Lieutenant? What's going on?" The sound of gunfire cut through the static from the radio. Jack could hear it echoing through a distant cavern as well.

"Damn." Jack jumped up and grabbed his gun, "Teal'c lets go!"


	10. Nearing the End

Sam sat staring at Malek's back, wondering how long it would take before he noticed that he was being watched. Finally he turned around, but to Sam's dismay he looked right past her. Frustrated, Sam turned her gaze to the slowly dying fire. She barely even noticed when a warm body sat down beside her.

"How are you feeling Major Carter?"

Sam turned, surprised to find herself looking into Malek's warm brown eyes.

"Ok I guess. I'm not very hungry anymore if that's what you mean."

He smiled, and then nodded slightly. "Then it is safe to assume that the hunger stage is almost over. If so, the last stage will begin in a matter of hours."

Sam watched his face darken as he spoke. The temperature in the cave seemed to have dropped a few degrees and Sam shivered. She felt something turn over in her stomach, something that gave her an uneasy feeling of dread.

"What exactly is the last stage of this virus?"

Malek hesitated. "Major Carter…"

"Please call me Sam."

"Uh, Sam, it's not important what the next stage is because I'm hoping that you never get there."

"Because of the drug you've been working on?"

"Correct."

Sam smiled and moved closer to Malek for warmth. She was surprised when next he spoke, for so caught up was she in her thoughts, that she didn't see him lower his head for a moment.

"Are you cold Major Carter?"

"So you do speak," she said to the host. "Yes I'm a little cool…." She let her voice trail off leaving the question hanging in the air. The man smiled as he seemed to pick up on what she wanted.

"Caden, but everyone calls me Cade."

"Cade…hmmm…well it's nice to finally meet you Cade."

She smiled again, but her next question was rudely interrupted by the wicked witch of the west.

"What do you want now Anise?"

>>>>>>>

"Cease fire! Cease fire!"

Lieutenant Green and his team immediately obeyed the voice that shouted over the radio. In an instant the cavern rang with deafening silence. Green looked around for a sign of the men that had attacked them but could see nothing through all the smoke.

"What do you think you were doing lieutenant," said O'Neill's angry voice over the radio.

"Sir, they attacked us. We had no choice but to retaliate, we just shot around them sir, not directly at them."

Green could almost hear the Colonel mentally seething in the silence that followed. Fortunately his CO seemed more interested in what had happened before the firefight, for her abruptly changed the subject.

"What did you find?"

Green turned quickly around, astonished to find his CO standing there. He motioned into the shadows. Lucy, Mara, and a young man of about twenty, with short brown hair and hazel eyes, stepped nervously out of the darkness.

"Sir, this is the man that has volunteered to be the Tok'ra's test subject," said Green gesturing towards the newest member of the group. "His name is Jeremy, Sir."

Jack frowned. "That's it? That's what I would never believe? For crying out loud, I sent you to get him!" Jack's anger was at a boiling point, and Green did not want to be on the receiving end of his wrath.

"No sir there's more," added the Lieutenant quickly, hoping to placate his CO's intensifying temper. "Please follow me."

Jack followed, his anger slowly dissipating as he watched the scenery go by; glad for once that he was not leading. This part of the cave was a labyrinth of tunnels that he felt certain he could never find his way out of on his own. Finally after what seemed like an eternity they turned into a brightly lit tunnel with a high ceiling. As his eyes adjusted he saw a prone figure lying in the middle of the room. He started forward cautiously, but his slow walk turned into a dead run when he recognized the tan sand uniform of the Tok'ra.

Jack knelt beside the man and turned his over, "Jacob?"

Jack flew into a panic at the sight of Sam's father. He was ghostly pale, and his skin felt abnormally cold, but the worst thing of all was that no matter how hard he tried, Jack could not find a pulse.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N **Max: **No, there is not really a pairing in this story, but if you close your eyes and imagine I'm sure you could make there be one...

Anyway...I need a name for this chapter...anyone have any ideas because I'm all out. As always please read and review! I'd very much appreciate the feedback. :-)


	11. Dead Men Tell No Tales

"No! I don't care how you do it, and I don't care how long it takes! Just get it done!"

Anise glared at Malek from across the table, "You don't have to yell. I'm standing right here."

"Just…do…it" said Malek through clenched teeth. He watched the scantily clad woman stalk off into the darkness and shot a hateful look at her retreating form. If looks could kill, Anise would have been dead hours ago. Why, why in Egeria's name did he always get stuck working with that insufferable…that…he couldn't seem to find the right word for her. Fortunately, Sam seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.

"Witch? Yeah I thought so too, but don't tell anyone I said that."

He smiled. "Said what?"

"Malek?" Malek turned at the sound of Daniel's voice. "Umm, this is your test subject, his name is Jeremy."

"Thank you." Malek looked from one man to the other. There faces were pale, and they both seemed to be avoiding looking in Sam's direction.

_Wonder what's going on?_

_I don't know, _said Cade,_ but they didn't offer to tell us anything so I think its best that we don't ask. Yet. _

"Please come this way Jeremy." Malek motioned to a vacant chair by the table, and almost screamed in frustration at the current occupant of his chair.

"Anise, I thought I told you to…"

"I have it right here!" She snapped, holding up a small vile of water.

"Oh, well blend it with the..."

"I already have, this is just extra." She held up a needle full of the new drug. "Here, would you like to do the honors?"

Malek took the needle from her and administered the drug to the man before him. He watched as his patient screwed up his eyes in pain and sucked in his breath. Soon enough there were tears leaking out of the corners of his eyes. Malek watched his facial expressions change as the seconds ticked by. Finally, he slumped over, unconscious onto the table. Quickly, Malek proceeded to check for signs of life, and he let out a visible sigh of relief when he found a strong pulse.

"I won't know until he wakes up, but I think that we have found a cure."

>>>>>>>

Janet knelt on the floor beside Jacob's still body. Her hand lay on the side of his neck but she could still find no pulse. Slowly she stood up and turned to face her CO.

"What do you think killed them Doc?"

"I don't know Colonel. There's blood on his head from a huge cut, but it's not deep enough to have killed them. There is no outward sign of trauma that would lead me to a cause of death. I won't know more until I can inspect the internal organs."

Suddenly, Green cut across the conversation, "Umm Doc…Doc!"

"What is it Lieutenant?"

Green raised his hand and pointed a shaking finger at the body on the floor.

"Maybe it's just me, but I didn't think that dead people were supposed to move."

Janet and Jack whirled around, and sure enough Jacob Carter, the dead man, was sitting propped up on his elbow looking straight at them.

"Hi guys, did I miss something? What? You all look like you've seen a ghost."

Jack felt his jaw drop to Abydos. Janet moved forward and placed two fingers on the side of Jacob's neck, she drew them back in shock as she felt his pulse beating regularly beneath the cool skin.

Jacob looked around, confused. "What's going on?"

Then a sudden realization dawned on him, and from the look on Jack's face, it must have occurred to him too.

"Selmac."

* * *

A/N This chapter is completly redone becuase I didn't like the other one. Hopefully, this one is better. Anyway, let me know what you think... 


	12. One Little Mistake

Sam watched as Malek passed the scanner over the unconscious form of Jeremy. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he turned to face her.

"The cure worked."

Sam's face visibly brightened for the first time in days. "That's great."

"Yeah, wonderful news." Sam turned at the sound of Jack's voice.

"Sir, your back, I….Dad!" Sam rushed to her father. "Oh my God, dad I thought the worst."

"Whoa slow down kid, I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"Later ok, right now we need to get you better." Jacob gave her a half hug.

"Ok, Malek you ready?"

"Of course, please sit." He gestured to the empty chair in front of him.

Sam watched as Jacob and the rest of SG-1 settled by the fire on the opposite side of the cave. Turning her attention back to Malek she rolled up her sleeve.

"This might sting a little."

Sam winced as Malek injected the antidote into her arm. Malek was wrong, it didn't sting, it burned like acid. She shut her eyes tight as the burning sensation moved throughout her body and became a searing pain. Sam opened her eyes but her vision was blurred and tinged red. Then everything started to go dark.

This isn't right she thought. Something is wrong, it didn't happen this fast with Jeremy.

Closing her eyes again, Sam was vaguely aware of someone shouting but the words sounded like they were being played in slow motion.

"Malek….the…antidote…won't…work….."

>>>>>>>

"What did you do?" Malek was yelling again, but this time he had good reason.

"I'm sorry! I was too busy checking Jeremy for signs of the virus that I didn't even think to…"

"That's your problem Anise! You don't think! You don't think about anyone but yourself. She could die! DIE! It will be your fault!"

"Why didn't you check? You're always supposed to double check, so it's your fault to!"

"Whoa kids, what are we fighting about?"

Malek and Anise glared at one another over the still form of Sam. Finally, Malek ripped his seething gaze from Anise and leveled it on the colonel.

"Anise forgot to put the water in the antidote."

"So?"

"So it won't work. The antidote in its current state without the water could be a fatal dose."

"What? Why?"

Malek sighed, "The water is a key component in the antidote, and without it the effect of the virus would be amplified and accelerated."

"So fix it."

"Oh and just how do you suppose I "fix it" colonel?"

"I don't know you're the scientist! You figure it out, and make it snappy! Carter doesn't have all day."

Exasperated and furious Malek turned back to Anise, "give me the extra vile of water."

Anise's face turned red, "I don't have it anymore. You knocked off the table earlier. If you want you can scoop up what's left of it off of the cave floor."

"I have a better idea. GO GET SOME MORE!"

Anise picked up an empty bottle and stalked off into the back of the cave.

_Cade, what are we gonna do? This is horrible, and that woman is insufferable._

_I don't know Mal. I guess there is only one thing that we can do._

Malek didn't like the tone of Cade's voice, it sounded entirely too mischievous, not to mention out of place in their current situation.

_What?_

_We could always follow her and drown her in that pool of water._

_Cade...I love your evil mind….but now is neither the time nor the place._

Malek heard Cade laugh softly as Anise appeared in his peripheral vision. _Missed our chance._

"Here." She threw the bottle at him.

"Anise, be careful with that!" Malek uncorked the top and poured the liquid into another vile. Carefully he mixed it with the antidote and filled a needle with it.

_Maybe you should give her twice the regular amount, one to counteract the bad antidote and one to cure the virus._

Malek drew more liquid into the needle. "I hope this works."

"Yeah" said O'Neill angrily, "it had better."


	13. The Darkest Hour

Sam tried uselessly to drag herself out of the nightmares, but the harder she tried the worse they became. They had started out innocently enough, memories from her childhood, but they got progressively darker as the final stage of the virus began to take hold. The antidote wasn't working, of that she was sure. She should have been cured by now but instead she was lost in realistic nightmares that were all too painful.

_Dark clouds hung over the procession and threatened to let unleash a cold torrent upon the grieving family that had settled around the gravesite. Sam sat next to Mark and clung to him for warmth and comfort. She watched with tears in her eyes as the polished casket was lowed into the earth. Her brother stood and brought her to her feet as well. Together they moved towards the headstone and placed two pink carnations on top of it, their mothers' favorite. _

"_Come on Sammie, we got to go now."_

"_No," she cried, "I don't want to leave mom."_

"_We have to." Gently, her brother drug her away from the grave as the sky let lose with a cold and lonesome rain._

Sam struggled against the memory. Suddenly the scene changed and Sam stood in an empty house instead of in the cemetery.

"_Are you ready Sammie?"_

_Sam turned to look at her father and a much younger Jacob stood in the doorway._

"_No, I'm not."_

"_We have to go sweetheart."_

"_Don't call me that. I hate it when you try to pretend that we're ok." Sam stormed out the door and down the path leading to the car. "It's your fault mom's gone and nothing is ever gonna change that."_

The scene changed again but this time Sam stopped trying to fight.

"_Sam, Mark, turn that off."_

_Mark pushed the stop button on the remote and the smiling picture of their mother faded from the screen. "Why?"_

"_What's the point in having a memorial if you don't get to remember?" _

"_Just please, go talk to your mom's friends, and Sam please go put on your dress. It was your mothers' favorite."_

Again the scene faded into another…

"_Carter that is an order!"_

"_But sir!"_

"_Go!"_

The memories got faster and faster, blending together as Sam tried to shut herself off from them.

"_Sam I have cancer. You don't have to call this thing is going to go on for months."_

"_Where is my father?" "He's been captured by Sokar."_

"_Sir please." "Over my dead body."_

"NO! Make it stop."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Malek's head jerked up at the sudden sound. "Did she say something?"

"Who?"

"Sam," I though I heard her say something.

"She's completely unconscious and unresponsive. You're delusional, you need some rest Malek."

Malek glared at Anise. "I can't rest because I am too busy trying to rectify your stupid mistake!"

"I told you I was sorry, and that…"

"Sorry isn't going to save her." Malek stopped and rubbed his temples where a headache was starting to form. "Look Anise, we don't have time to argue. Please just go get some more water and finish the tests I told you to perform on it."

"Ok, but don't start being nice to me now."

"GO."

She walked away and Malek was half tempted to throw a rock at her but decided better of it. He could kill her once they had saved Sam.

_You'd never get away with it. The council would be furious._

_Cade, I don't really think that anyone would actually miss her._

_No one but Delek anyway._

Malek suppressed a mirthless laugh.

He laid his hand on Sam's forehead and felt his stomach turn over._ She's burning up. I think that she's in the last stage._

_Relax Mal, we'll think of something. She's gonna be alright._

Malek sighed; _I wish your enthusiasm was contagious. It doesn't look good. _

_What are we going to tell the Colonel?_

_For now we are going to tell him nothing. The less he knows about her condition the less inclined he'll be to try and kill us._

"How is she?"

_Perfect timing _he thought bitterly.

Malek looked up and met the Colonel's hard gaze, "she's stable for now. We're working on something to counteract the virus. It may take a little longer than we had first hoped."

"You mean after Anise's little 'screw up'?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

"If she dies…"

"I know Colonel, believe me, I know."

"Good, just as long as we are on the same page here."

Malek was glad to see him walk away, but was less than thrilled when Jacob walked up to him.

"Jacob, how are you felling?"

"I'm fine, just a headache but Selmac's working on it. How are you and Anise coming with the antidote?"

"We…"

Jacob held up his hand, silencing Malek's response. "And don't hand me that line that you just feed to Jack. She's my little girl, and I want the truth."

"Not good, her condition is getting worse. She has a fever and is unresponsive to any kind of stimuli. There is nothing that we can do; the virus will just have to work…."

Malek trailed off as a light bulb went off in his head.

"Unless…"

He grabbed the scanner and started pushing buttons.

"Unless?" Jacob asked as he watched Malek run the scanner over Sam's body.

"Unless what Malek!"


	14. Sabotage

Sam was still lost in the nightmares as Malek worked desperately to save her. Over the past few hours he had made some disturbing and shocking discoveries. As he ran extra tests on the old antidote he noticed that an anomaly kept cropping up. It wasn't until after he tested the cure that he had used on Jeremy that Malek began to a have a sneaking suspicious of sabotage. The two antidotes were different. It was a minuscule difference that was easily overlooked, but Malek had watched the results carefully and had spied it instantly. There was not doubt in his mind what the anomaly was.

Poison. But the million dollar question was: how did it get there.

Malek thought he knew, but he didn't want to jump to that conclusion just yet. Instead he went along with Cade's 'innocent until proven guilty' philosophy.

Sitting at the table Malek ran one final test on the antidote and sighed as the results came up positive for the toxin.

_What do we do now _asked Cade.

_We don't have any option but to confront her._

_But we don't know for sure that it was Anise._

_Who else could it be Cade? She was the only other person with access to the drug. It had to be her._

Malek beckoned Anise over to him with a wave of his hand. He opened his mouth to ask her point blank about the poison but changed his mind at the last second.

"Umm, go get me some more of this water sample."

"Why, you have plenty."

"Because I want more. Here take this vile and fill it up."

As soon as she disappeared around the corner Malek walked to the edge of the cave where she had left her pack days before. Looking around for prying SGC personnel he stooped down and opened it. Rummaging around he came up empty handed.

_She probably has it on her._

_Or more likely she got rid of it. It's probably at the bottom of the lake._

_Cade! You're a genius._

Malek stood up and stalked off after Anise. As he came around the corner he stopped and hid behind a huge outcropping of stone. He watched Anise finish filling the vile with water and look cautiously around. Seeing no one she took out a small corked bottle from inside her jacket pocket.

_Bingo _said Malek in an eerie imitation of Jacob.

"Anise," he said stepping into the opening. "What are you doing?"

Anise jumped but quickly covered by standing up and re-corking the bottle. "Just getting some extra water, seems like you need a lot of it."

"Right, well I'll take it."

"No, I've got it," said Anise with a death grip on the small bottle.

Malek's patients snapped.

"Give me the bottle Anise. I know what it is and I know what you did. You aren't going to get away with it."

"I have no idea what you are taking about."

"Give me the poison."

Panicked, she looked like a mouse caught in a trap. "I don't know…" she stammered, but Malek wasn't going to listen. So she did the stupidest thing she could think of. She attacked him.

Malek reacted much quicker than she thought he would. He caught her by the wrist as she swung at him and he knocked her to the cave floor. She kicked and bit at him but it was no use. He fell on top of her, his weight pinned her to the ground. He used one hand to hold her wrists, and he used the other to snatch the bottle out of her grasp. Furious she swore at him and kneed him in the groin. Blocking the pain as best he could Malek staggered to his feet. Again she came at him, but a zat blast stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Thought you could hurt my little girl and get away with it did you," asked an enraged Jacob from behind Malek.

"Jacob I…"

"Go save Sam, I'll deal with her."

"I don't think that is such a good idea Jacob. Something tragic might happen if…"

Jacob rounded on Malek and pointed the zat threateningly at him. "Yes something tragic might happen if you don't do as I say." He said with icy rage laced in every syllable of his shaking voice.

"Now, go."

Malek didn't need to be told twice. The maniacal look in Jacob's eyes screamed murder and Malek didn't want to be on the receiving end.

He backed slowly away with his hands slightly up, "ok, ok."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sam opened her mouth in a silent scream, desperate to stop the flow of memories. But the memories kept coming faster and faster until they were nothing more than a blur of faces and words.

_There was a face that mirrored her own. Sam reached out to touch it but it vanished in a wisp of smoke. Mom._

_Then there was the kind smiling face of Martouf._

_Narim was next. She could see herself handing him a ball of fur. "His name is Schrodinger."_

"_Mom's dead."_

"_Carter!" _

"_He doesn't even know why I'm not there for him!"_

"_He doesn't want me there anyway." _

Finally the memories came to an abrupt end and Sam found herself floating in total darkness. She felt someone shaking her, but her body felt heavy, too heavy. Whoever it was, was yelling, and she could barely make out the distorted words.

"No….hang…on….little….longer…" the words got fainter and fainter as Sam felt colder and colder……and the darkness closed in around her.

"No….."

* * *

Do my eyes deceive me or is that another update! lol. Anyway, as always, let me know what you think! 


	15. Bad Timing

Jacob shoved Anise into the wall and stuck his face into hers.

"What the hell were you thinking? No, don't answer that! I don't want to hear your excuses. You thought you could get away with hurting my little girl, but you were dead wrong."

"You don't have a clue. You and Malek think that you're so smart, but without Sam you can't see the obvious staring you in the face." Anise hissed and gave him a violent shove.

Jacob stumbled backwards, temporarily stunned, but it gave Anise the advantage. She snatched the zat gun out of his hand and pointed it at him.

"It's too bad really. I always like you, but you just got in the way, you couldn't leave well enough alone."

"What are you talking about?"

"I wasn't really going to kill you precious daughter, but maybe now I will."

"You…"

"You should have stayed home. I did warn you."

Jacob's anger exploded to the surface once more and he launched himself at the woman before him. Anise was quicker though. She fired the zat and brought him down.

She knelt down to whisper in his ear. "I'll spare you, but only so you can live out the rest of your life knowing that you failed Sam. You killed her because you were too slow, too incompetent to see the truth staring you in the face."

Then she left him there, lying motionless on the floor, as she made her way back to the room where Sam and Malek were. There were more she reminded herself, the rest of SG-1 was there too. She smiled. That was why she had help.

She stopped at the fork in the tunnels and waited. Finally, Lucy appeared out of the darkness.

"Is everything ready?"

"Yes. Jeremy and Mara are in place."

"Good. Let's go. Just remember,Samis mine."

>>>>>>>

"Sam? Sam? Can you hear me? Wake up!"

Malek shook her, desperate to wake her.

"Sam!"

Out of the corner of his eye Malek saw Jeremy move towards him. In the next instance stars exploded in his vision as the chair came crashing down on his head. Pain flooded his senses and he fell over clutching his head. Apologizing to Cade and blocking the pain as best he could, he staggered to his feet, only to be knocked unconscious from behind by Mara.

"Get him?"

"Yeah, he's out cold. Look out!"

Mara turned, ready for the onslaught of the Taur'i.

"Don't make me shot you," said Jack leveling his gun at her chest. "Put down the chair and the…"

Jack fell over as a zat blast coursed through his body. Anise stepped over him, and turned to watch Lucy dispatch Teal'c with a shot from her zat.

"Throw them with Daniel." She said to Jeremy, indicating the first victim of her ambush. "I have some unfinished business to attend to."

>>>>>>>

Sam was vaguely aware of Malek shaking her and calling her name. She wanted to go to him, and she found that if she concentrated really hard on his voice it didn't sound so far away. The darkness that engulfed her began to let go little by little. Soon she was floating just below the surface of the darkness. She could hear what sounded like gunfire and then a voice came closer, but it wasn't Malek. Nonetheless, it finished what he had started and drug her back to the world of the living.

Opening her eyes she saw Anise standing over her with a malicious and triumphant grin on her face.

Without thinking Sam reacted.


	16. Death

Malek came crashing back to reality just in time to feel Anise and Sam fall over him.

He felt pain wash over him as he struggled to gain his footing. He grabbed the table and closed his eyes, fighting back a wave of nausea. When he was finally able to open his eyes he saw Sam and Anise locked in a vicious cat fight.

They traded punches for a while but eventually Sam got the upper hand. She slammed Anise into the wall, and pulled a hidden blade from the sleeve of her jacket. Anise stopped struggling as Sam pressed the blade threateningly against her unprotected throat.

"You tried to kill me. Why?"

Anise just stood there. The blade was pressed so tightly against her jugular that if she dared to talk she would slit her own throat. Seeing this, Sam relaxed her grip slightly.

"I never really liked you, but it wasn't my decision to poison you."

"And why should I believe that?"

"Because it is true." Anise stiffened as Sam applied a small amount of pressure to the blade.

"It was a mutual decision."

"Who," ordered Sam. When Anise refused to respond Sam applied more pressure.

A small trickle of blood began appear as the tip of the blade pressed through the soft skin of Anise's neck, but still she refused to answer.

Suddenly a body slammed into Sam, sending her crashing into the floor. Lucy rolled aside and sprang away as Sam lashed out at her with the blade. Cursing she started to stand but Anise jumped on top of her and punched her repeatedly in the face.

Malek heard something in Sam's face snap with a sickening crunch. Deciding that someone was going to be killed if he continued to be a casual observer he reached out and grabbed Anise by the waist. Hauling her off of Sam, he tossed her aside like a rag doll.

She stood and rounded on him but he leveled his zat at her.

The problem was that there were two zats already aimed at him. He fired wildly in the direction of Mara and Jeremy while simultaneously diving for the relative safety of the table. He heard a satisfying thud as Jeremy hit the stone floor, and smiled to himself when another zat blast brought down Mara.

Malek could have kicked himself for forgetting about Lucy. Somehow she had managed to get behind him. He felt the shock from her zat course through his body and silently cursed himself for being so stupid.

When he could see straight again he saw that Anise was once again trying to make Sam become a permanent fixture on the floor.

His anger got the best of him as he fired his zat at Anise, fully aware that it would affect Sam as well.

She fell over, but it seemed that Malek wasn't the only one who had thought of zatting her.

Malek watched in a mixture of horror and regret as the second, killing blast, coursed through Anise's body.

Looking up he spotted Jacob, his posture screamed defeat and regret. His shoulders were slightly slumped and his weapon hung limp at his side. He let it clatter to the stone floor as he rushed to Sam's side.

Malek saw that she had blood gushing like a waterfall from her nose, and she was shaking all over.

The good news was that she had finally beaten the virus, and ironically enough, it was Anise who had saved her in the end.

Malek watched Jacob comforting his hurt daughter, and suddenly he felt like an intruder.

Slowly he stood and walked to where Lucy lay.

She was coming around.

Malek pointed his zat at her and waited for her to open her eyes. When she finally did they were large and frightened, like that of a child caught in a lie.

"Tell me who ordered Samantha Carter's death."

"If I tell you, will you let me live?"

Her words came out as a whisper but Malek heard them.

"That depends on what you have to say," said Malek coldly.


	17. The Aftermath

No matter how tempting it was, Malek couldn't bring himself to kill Lucy. She was only following orders.

Orders that came directly from the Tok'ra high council.

Malek wasn't on the council, and Jacob had long since fallen out of the loop, so neither of them was aware of the animosity that had developed against Sam over the past few years. It turned out that the council was tired of her 'meddling', and they wanted her out of the equation. When they learned that SG1 would be traveling to Lucy's home world they saw the perfect opportunity to get rid of her, and no one would be the wiser.

At least that was the plan.

The people of the cave colony were all too willing to help. They were plagued by a mysterious and contagious disease, spread by the water, and the tok'ra promised to provide an antidote if they would send people to assist Anise.

It was supposed to look like Sam caught the water disease and died from it before the antidote was developed, but Anise wasn't able to slow Malek's progress with the drug, so she had to resort to sabotage...

As Malek allowed this information to sink in he lowered his zat and glared at Lucy.

_How could they do something like this? _Cade asked, his fury echoed by Malek's.

Looking at Jacob, Malek knew that the council would regret the day they made that decision. If Jacob every got his hands on them, he'd rip them to pieces and Malek was liable to help him.

"Jacob, there is something I need to tell you," said Malek.

"I heard everything."

Malek shivered slightly as Jacob's voice came out a harsh icy whisper.

"I'll kill every single one of them with my bare hands. Damn snakes! They **will** regret this, I promise you that."

Malek shook his head, fully understanding the anger that was emanating from Jacob. Jacob was out for blood, and had it been him and his daughter in Jacob's position, Malek new that he would be out for blood too.

"Let me see your face," said Malek kneeling beside Sam.

She slowly took her blood stained hand away from her face and tilted it upwards so Malek could see her nose better. It was defiantly broken. Malek picked up the healing device and slid it onto his hand.

"Be still while I heal you," he said.

After he healed her nose he also healed a few other wound that Anise had inflicted. Then he ran the scanner over her body to check for the disease but the cure had worked; it was gone.

"How are you feeling?"

Sam smiled as Cade took control.

"I feel a lot better now. Thank you, I owe you two my life."

Cade smiled as he finished his scan, "It's what we do, but you're welcome all the same."

He offered her his hand to help her stand.

"Ready to go home Carter," asked Jack as he helped Daniel up.

"Yes sir," she said walking toward the entrance with Cade.

Jack nodded towards Lucy and the others, "You can go now."

"But, aren't you going to punish us?"

"No, it's not your fault. The tok'ra play dirty and they should never have pulled you into this mess…"

They just stood there, looking dumfounded.

"Go home before I change my mind," said Jack.

----------

"So that's it?"

Jacob nodded. He had just finished telling Jack about how he had dealt with the council and severed all ties. He was currently still sitting in the infirmary with a bloody forehead and a broken collar bone.

"No more tok'ra. That's hard to imagine. Well except for Malek of course. We'll still have dealings with his base but he's the exception."

Jacob shook his head again.

"I can't believe it either. I never thought that it would come to this," he said.

"What about Selmak," asked Jack.

"Oh she wants to stay. The council wasn't very happy about that, but we didn't give them the chance to object."

Jack smiled, "I can tell."

A small laughed escaped Jacob, "Well, maybe I went a little overboard with the whole revenge thing, but no one died…unfortunately."

"I'm surprised."

"Me too," said Jacob, "Malek stopped me before I did any permanent damage. I'm kinda glad he did."

Jack laughed, "So this means that you are permanently moving back to earth?"

"Yep, I was thinking of taking a nice long vacation. You know show Sel what Earth is really like."

"I'm sure you could do that, and we'll have something for you to when you get back. I mean we can't let the oldest and wisest get complacent in his, er, her old age."

Jacob grinned, "I'd like that."

FIN

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A/N Finally finished! A big thank you to everyone who read and reviewed! waves Thanks guys! I hope you enjoyed it. 


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